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With the annual Traverse City prospect tournament set to begin in just over a week, the Columbus Blue Jackets have announced their roster.

Columbus will have 25 players at the tournament - 19 of their own and six players on tryouts - headlined by Kerby Rychel, Alex Wennberg, Sonny Milano and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

The six unowned players who will attend on a tryout basis are forwards Mike Dipaolo (Charlottetown, QMJHL), Kyle Hope (Owen Sound, OHL) as well as defensemen Isaac Macleod (Boston College), Marcus McIvor (North Bay, OHL), Kevin Ryan (ECHL) and Nick Walters (Lethbridge, WHL).

Of the invitees, the two that stand out to me the most are Hope and McIvor. Hope is a former defenseman who converted to forward a couple years back, and has since developed into a potent offensive player at the OHL level. Hope scored 24 goals and recorded 48 points while tallying 99 penalty minutes in 54 games last season.

As for McIvor, he's a steady two-way defenseman who was pivotal to North Bay's success during their run to the OHL Final last year. McIvor teamed with Lightning prospect Dylan Blujus to create one of the best shutdown pairings in the league. While McIvor doesn't post huge numbers, he does make a good first pass and will chip in occasionally.

It'll be interesting to see which, if any, of the invites impress enough to land a contract; either with the Blue Jackets or somewhere else.

The first game is next Friday. Head over to the Blue Jackets' website for full details.

Jackets posts

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On Johansen, Horton and shooting percentages

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Columbus Blue Jackets 5 vs 5 Goals Data: Defense

Devils posts

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On Tomas Kaberle

On Scott Gomez

On the NHL's best forward/defense duos

On the NHL's best forward duos

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